Saving Lois
by Irish Rose1
Summary: Set during Season Four, Recruit. It's mostly an extended scene of what happened after Clark found Lois.


Clark super-sped from Lois' Met U. dorm room, leaving Chloe sitting alone with her laptop because he only had one thought on his mind. He had to save Lois from Alicia's fate because it wasn't going to happen again; he wasn't going to be responsible for someone else's death.

Met U's 'Teflon Tailback', Jeff Johns had taken Lois. And until Chloe was able to locate her with the help of the GPS system in Jeff's car, neither she nor Clark had any idea where she was.

Chloe had only managed to see him speed away from the dorms and wouldn't have known he had Lois until she found her cousins broken sun glasses on the ground. She relayed that to Clark, who then made a quick trip to Metro Motors to locate the PIN number for Jeff's account.

He reached him not long after that, in an industrial part of Metropolis but Lois wasn't with him.

In his panic to find her, Clark pulled Jeff bodily through the window of his car and demanded to know where she was. He had no idea what Jeff had done with her or _to_ her and he couldn't shake the awful feeling that Lois's time was running out.

He had the overwhelming urge to hurt Jeff as he tried to make excuses for why he'd paralyzed and then ultimately killed Coop, but if he did Clark might never find out where Lois was. So he calmed himself and all but begged to know her whereabouts.

As it turned out, she was much closer than Clark could have hoped.

There wasn't any time to locate a stairwell, so he pulled the grate off of a nearby utility access and dropped into a rapidly flooding passageway. He wasn't sure which way to go until the current of the water against his legs told him where the point of origin was.

He called for her, hoping she would answer and tried to remain calm. It wouldn't help Lois if he couldn't think straight.

It didn't take him long to find the locked door and he could see her through the bars. She wasn't moving, which obviously meant that Jeff had paralyzed her and left her there to drown. He used his heat vision to melt the lock and pushed the door out of his way. He called for her again as he pulled her out of the water and held her so she could catch her breath.

She sounded relieved that he was there and though not quite believing it himself, told her she would be all right.

He picked her up and could feel her shivering, badly. He was amazed that she was still conscious, but with Lois being as stubborn as she was, she probably remained conscious to spite Jeff.

_It wouldn't surprise him._

With a quick turn of the handle, he turned the water off and then carried Lois outside. Chloe was waiting for them and he could see that she was trying to stay calm and not cry. She wanted to know what had happened and Clark had to urge her to her car.

"I'll tell you but you have to get us to Metropolis General." He promised as Chloe opened the passenger door and he set Lois on her feet.

She leaned heavily against him and her voice was barely audible. "No hos-s-pital."

Clark ignored her as he and Chloe struggled to get Lois out of her wet coat and into the car. They laid her across the back seat and covered her with a blanket that Chloe handed him, explaining that she always kept one the trunk. She took the wheel as Clark sat down in the passenger seat and just before she started the engine, he heard Lois. "Cold."

They glanced at each other and she shrugged. "Would you mind? You're bigger than I am and you'll keep her warmer than I could." And then she cracked a brief smile. "Besides, it's my car."

He nodded reluctantly; knowing that Lois wouldn't like it. But he didn't have time to debate with himself about it as he took his jacket off and slid into the back seat.

"Smallville." He heard her whispered protest and couldn't help but smile.

"Be quiet Lois." He shushed as he sat her up and wrapped her in his jacket. He tucked the blanket around her wet jeans and held her against him in a loose embrace as Chloe started the car.

He felt a violent shiver go through her and yet she still managed some sarcasm as he held her closer to keep her warm. "Pay for this."

Clark shook his head in amusement because it had to be a good sign that Lois was being Lois. "I know, you'll make me pay for this. So what's new?"

"Farm boy."

"That's it Lois, keep insulting me; but I'm not going to let you go."

"Great." She managed to tell him before her body slowly went limp. Clark looked down at her and quickly checked her pulse. She'd only gone to sleep and he tuned in to her labored breathing, which worried him.

"Is she okay?" Chloe asked with an anxious glance in the rearview mirror as the car moved a little faster.

"She's sleeping. But the sooner you can get to the hospital, the better I'll feel." He met her gaze with a nod before she put her attention back to the road.

Ten minutes later, she brought the car to a stop in front of the emergency room of Metropolis General and after shutting down the engine, hopped out to help Clark.

He carried her inside to the emergency desk and a gurney was quickly brought out as he and Chloe tried to explain what happened. He laid her down and after being covered with several blankets, she was rolled away.

oooooo

A few hours later, Clark opened the door to Lois' hospital room.

She had been admitted for observation and as soon as she was able, Chloe sat down next to her cousin's bed and refused to budge. He found her asleep, her hand holding Lois's.

"Chloe?" Clark put his hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you get some rest? There's a vacant room next door and the nurse said it would be all right if you wanted to sleep in there for awhile."

She sat up and Clark could see that she'd been crying. "Why would he do this?"

"People do things they wouldn't ordinarily do when they're scared, Chloe." He tried to explain without excusing what Jeff had done. "And Jeff felt that he didn't have a choice."

"You always have a choice Clark." She frowned.

"I know." It was all he could offer. "Go get some rest, I'll stay with her."

"Let me know when she wakes up." She stood up and walked to the door.

"I will." He promised as Chloe left the room and Clark took the seat she'd just vacated.

He sat and watched her as she slept and was relieved to see that her face wasn't the chalky white it had been when he and Chloe brought her in. Her breathing was less labored, the color had returned to her face and she wasn't shivering.

He'd called his parent's after Lois was admitted and explained to them what happened and that he and Chloe would stay with her at the hospital because they didn't want her waking up alone in a strange place. His mother asked him if there was anything that she or his father could do and he told her that everything was under control and that they would be home in the morning.

Chloe had called General Lane to tell him what happened, even though her cousin wouldn't want him to know. He didn't know Lois very well, but even Clark could see how much she wanted to show her father how independent she was and didn't need his help.

But this wasn't about asking for help; he had the right to know.

"Clark?" Lois' soft voice caught his attention.

"Welcome back." He smiled in relief.

"Jeff?" She frowned and seemed frustrated that she couldn't say anything else.

"He's in jail. He won't hurt anyone else." He tried to reassure her.

"Good." She sighed. "Tired."

"Go back to sleep Lois. We'll be here in the morning." He promised as he watched her eyes close again and she went back to sleep.

The thought came to him as he watched her that even though he wasn't able to save Alicia, he had been able to save Lois. And the crushing guilt he felt over her death lessened, just a little.

END.


End file.
